No institution offering healthcare administration programs in South Carolina
graduates half the students who start there. The best rate in the state is
48%; the weakest is 23%. The ranking below sorts
7 programs, but the more important decision in this state is
not which one, it is what your plan is for finishing.
Not One Program in the State Finishes Half Its Intake
Coastal Carolina University has the highest institutional graduation
rate of any ranked program here at 48%. Every other institution on this
page is lower, down to 23%. Public programs average
46% and private ones 38%, so unlike most states
this is not a story about one sector: both halves of the field are weak on the
same measure.
The figure needs its caveats, and they are real ones. It is reported for the
whole institution rather than for this department, so a healthcare
administration cohort might do better or worse than the university around it.
It counts only first-time full-time students, which describes adult and
part-time learners badly, and several institutions here serve exactly those
students. And a state with 7 programs is a small enough set
that two or three weak institutions move the average a long way.
What none of that changes is the position a reader is in. If the published
rate at the strongest institution in the state is 48%, then the useful
question at an open day is not about rankings. It is what share of the
healthcare administration students specifically complete, what support exists
for people who fall behind, and whether a part-time route exists that does not
count against you. Those are answerable questions and the answers are not in
any federal dataset.
1 Bachelor of Science in Health Administration
Coastal Carolina
Fully online
Conway, SC
$11,460 in-state tuition48% graduation rate75% admit rate64 score
Coastal Carolina prepares students for the Tableau Desktop Analyst certification inside the degree and lets them take up to nine credits that count directly toward its MBA.
The Bachelor of Science in Health Administration is an online completion program in the Conway Medical Center College of Health and Human Performance, delivered through the Moodle learning system with full-time and part-time tracks. It has two entry points: one for students holding an Associate of Applied Science with a health care certificate or licensure, and one for those without, who need 40 credit hours or a completed associate or bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution.
Coursework includes health data analysis and visualization, decision-making with dashboards, health policy, healthcare marketing and managing healthcare organizations, and capstone projects are carried out with community partners. Graduates are prepared for advanced study such as an MBA or MHA, and the accelerated MBA option starts that work during the bachelor's.
- Prepares for Tableau Desktop Analyst certification
- Up to nine credits count toward the MBA
- Two entry routes, with or without licensure
- Online completion program, full or part time
View Coastal Carolina's Bachelor of Science in Health Administration
2 BS in Healthcare Administration
Newberry
Fully online
Newberry, SC
$27,850 in-state tuition45% graduation rate90% admit rate54.4 score
Newberry’s online Healthcare Administration BS has a 120-credit plan with 51 credits in major and related coursework.
The curriculum combines healthcare systems, community health, healthcare finance, and administration with accounting, economics, statistics, law, marketing, and human resources. A Healthcare Administration Capstone is part of the major. The program accepts first-year and transfer applicants and lists a 2.0 minimum GPA.
Transfer applicants submit transcripts from every college attended; those with fewer than 28 successfully completed college credits also provide a high school transcript. Students with healthcare credentials may qualify for prior learning credit, subject to the college’s review.
- Online BS
- 120 credits
- Healthcare administration capstone
View Newberry's BS in Healthcare Administration
3 BA in Healthcare Administration
Columbia
Fully online
Columbia, SC
$19,276 in-state tuition37% graduation rate94% admit rate53.8 score
Columbia College in South Carolina offers an online Healthcare Administration BA with Community Healthcare and Organizational Management study options.
Seven-week courses have no scheduled login times. Students study leadership, quality and performance improvement, and community and public healthcare, including the use of performance measures, budgeting, and disease prevention concepts. An advisor helps students plan their degree around their interests.
The program accepts transfer work and considers eligible training toward the degree. Its published maximum is 90 transfer credits; the number awarded depends on the student’s prior study and training.
- Online BA
- Seven-week courses
- Two study focus options
View Columbia's BA in Healthcare Administration
4 Healthcare Administration (Bachelor of Science)
Francis Marion
On campus
Florence, SC
$10,394 in-state tuition43% graduation rate86% admit rate50.8 score
Francis Marion runs two tracks through one major, and the Clinical Track is open only to students who already hold an associate degree in respiratory care, radiologic technology or medical laboratory technology, or another applicable licensed discipline.
The Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration emphasizes knowledge and skill in healthcare management, leadership, education, research and practice, and is aimed both at leadership in healthcare organizations and at advancement within a student's own allied health discipline. The General Track is open to any undergraduate interested in healthcare careers.
To apply to the Clinical Track, you need an allied health associate degree and a current, unencumbered license or certificate, along with three professional references and acceptance to the university. Majors can add a double major in Healthcare Informatics, and a minor and a collateral are offered for students in other fields.
- General Track or licensed-clinician Clinical Track
- Optional double major in Healthcare Informatics
- Clinical Track for respiratory, radiology and lab techs
- Minor and collateral open to other majors
View Francis Marion's Healthcare Administration (Bachelor of Science)
5 Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management
South University-Columbia
Fully online
Columbia, SC
$17,100 in-state tuition23% graduation rate48.2 score
South University's Healthcare Management B.S. ends with capstones in case analysis and strategic management, within a 180-quarter-credit curriculum.
The degree allocates 48 quarter credits to general education, 36 to foundation courses and 96 to major requirements. Health care finance examines reimbursement and financial statements; other core courses address law, ethics, marketing, risk and managerial epidemiology.
Students choose ten electives from a pool that includes federal and state health programs, project management and organizational behavior. South says specialized courses are delivered online, while some general education courses may be available at a campus. Its program page and catalog list the participating locations.
- 180 quarter credits
- Case-study and strategy capstones
- Online specialized coursework
- Health care finance and risk management
View South University-Columbia's Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management
6 Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration
Charleston Southern
On campus
Charleston, SC
$31,870 in-state tuition47% graduation rate96% admit rate42.8 score
Charleston Southern runs the degree fully online in asynchronous seven-week courses, so you can study without logging in at set lecture times.
The Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration is housed in the Hans A. Nielsen College of Business and delivered through the College of Adult and Professional Studies, on a liberal arts foundation. It is aimed at working adults, including practitioners already in healthcare who want to move from clinical work into management.
Courses include Accounting Principles for Managers, Statistics for Managers, Business Law I, Business Ethics, Healthcare Policy and Law, and Healthcare Management, running through to healthcare information and management systems. Faculty add a faith component to the curriculum. Most course materials are included in tuition, though some courses require additional purchases.
- Most course materials included in tuition
- Asynchronous seven-week online courses
- No set lecture login times
- Taught through the Nielsen College of Business
View Charleston Southern's Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration
7 Business Administration: Healthcare Administration
Coker
On campus
Hartsville, SC
$32,408 in-state tuition40% graduation rate94% admit rate40.1 score
Coker’s 2024–25 catalog places Healthcare Administration in an 18-credit concentration alongside a 42-credit business core.
The concentration covers healthcare systems and equity, informatics, economics and finance, policy and law, and contemporary issues. Its final Healthcare Administration course applies strategic thinking to a proposed change in a hospital or health system. The project gives students a piece of work to include in a professional portfolio.
Coker also describes a partnership with Rize Education and a consortium of colleges that provides online healthcare administration courses taught by participating institutions. That course partnership supplements the university’s program.
- 18-credit healthcare concentration
- Business administration core
- Hospital strategy project
View Coker's Business Administration: Healthcare Administration
How We Scored South Carolina's Healthcare Administration Programs
Graduation rate carries 40% of the score, in-state tuition 25%, delivery
flexibility 20% and admission selectivity 15%. Every input is federal IPEDS data
or the school's own program page, and a program has to report both a graduation
rate and a tuition figure, and still be enrolling new students, to be ranked at
all. Weights are never renormalized
around a missing factor, because that turns non-disclosure into an advantage. The
same model runs on every state page, with no editorial override and no paid
placement. The full weighting, and the factors left out deliberately, are in the
ranking methodology (version 1.0).
No accreditation factor appears at this level. CAHME accredits healthcare
management programs at master's level only, so no bachelor's degree anywhere
carries it, and an undergraduate program claiming otherwise is describing
something that does not exist. Where a school states AUPHA certification on its
own page, that is reported on the program rather than scored.